When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) by Lynette Eason Read Free Book Online Page B

here with her mother and the reunion, she’d go back and fight to clear her name.
    With that resolved in her mind, she focused on her surroundings. Turning left, Alexia noticed the dark streets, the area of town that even ten years ago had been the one to avoid. Now, it looked much worse.
    Her phone rang and she frowned as she looked at the number.
    Hunter. Make that Detective Graham, she reminded herself. She pressed the button to take the call. “Hello?”
    “Hi, Alexia, this is Hunter. I was wondering if we could meet. I have a couple more questions for you.”
    “What kind of questions?”
    She looked around. Two young men stood on the corner under a streetlamp making an exchange. Money for drugs? Probably. When her headlights framed them, they jumped and turned cold, suspicious eyes in her direction.
    She checked the locks. Heard their reassuring click. Why had she come this way? She hadn’t been thinking. But truly, there was no easy way to get to the hospital from her side of town. And she’d been in a hurry, so she’d gone the shortest way.
    Telling herself she’d take a different route back, she eased her way through the streets. Rolled up to the stop sign.
    Wham!
    Two fists slammed against her driver’s window, and she let out a scream as the face leered at her with a wicked grin. Her phone flew across the car and bounced off the passenger window. Greasy hair slapped alongside the gap-tooth mouth. The door shook as the man grabbed the handle and yanked. Alexia pressed the gas pedal, pulse thumping, heart pounding.
    Her breath came in panicked pants as she left the vagrant behind screaming curses at her.
    “Hey! Alexia, answer me. Are you okay?”
    His voice sounded far away. Keeping her eyes on the road, she leaned over and snatched the phone from the seat. “Yes, yeah, I’m sorry. Some guy came up and pounded my window and then tried to get in my car while I was at the stop sign.”
    She nearly choked while trying to slow her jackhammer heartbeat. Almost through with the bad part of town, she reassured herself. Almost. Hang in there.
    Headlights came up behind her and reflected back at her from the rearview mirror. Flipping it so the lights didn’t hit her eyes, she pressed the brake. The headlights eased off even as her stomach turned a flip.
    Keeping one eye on the car behind her and one on the road before her, she finally breathed a sigh of relief as she left the neighborhood behind.
    “Where are you?”
    “Just pulled out of Crosstown.”
    “Crosstown!” Disbelief echoed in her ear. “Are you crazy? Most cops don’t even want to go there during the day.”
    She shivered. “Yeah, it was a little worse than I remembered.”
    Hunter muttered something she missed and she thought she might be better off not knowing what he said. Back to the reason he called. “What kind of questions?”
    “Just routine ones. Ones I’d like answers to so I can get some sleep tonight.”
    Biting her lip, she scanned the street again. “I’m on the way to the hospital to see my mother. I don’t know how long I’ll be.”
    A pause. “Do you mind if I meet you there?”
    The questions were that urgent? She frowned. “I guess not. Where are you now?”
    “About five minutes from the hospital. I dropped Chad off at his house and I’m on my way back to the station to finish up the paperwork, but that can wait. Where are you going to park?”
    “In the garage on the fourth floor if I can find a spot.”
    “I’ll look for your car.”
    “Fine. I’ll wait for you at the elevator.”
    She hung up and tossed the phone onto the seat beside her, his voice still echoing in her ears. Memories of her high school attraction to him flooded her. She was still drawn to the man in spite of the fact that he believed she had something to do with Devin’s death.
    Great. Just one more complication in her life she really didn’t need.
    Clutching the steering wheel, she suddenly wished she prayed. Wished she felt like she